^And the case weeks ago where two black teens set a white boy on fire didn't get a blip in the media.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012...ire-tv-station
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^And the case weeks ago where two black teens set a white boy on fire didn't get a blip in the media.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012...ire-tv-station
Exactly, and that's why this story bothers me. Plus the fact that the media twisted it to fit the race baiting agenda really bothers me tremendously. Makes one wonder why they did it (though I think we all know why).
As I said in my previous post, Trayvon Martin was doing nothing more than going to the convenience store for Skittles and iced tea. There never would have been an altercation if Zimmerman acted appropriately. He should never have followed or confronted Martin. He should never have even gotten out of his vehicle. If he didn't, none of this would have happened and Trayvon Martin would be alive today.
Please tell me how you would feel if you were walking home alone at night, and some strange man started following you.
Whether or not he's "an awful person who went around aiming to kill black kids" is irrelevant. Even if Zimmerman was the most pro-black person and a member of the NAACP, it doesn't change the fact that he killed Trayvon Martin. The main issues are whether or not he was justified in following and confronting Trayvon Martin, and whether or not he was justified in shooting him. At the minimum, this was a wrongful death. Zimmerman went beyond his duties as self-appointed neighborhood watch, when he followed and confronted Trayvon Martin. If he thought Trayvon Martin looked suspicious, he should have done nothing more than call the police from his vehicle.
If the Sanford Police had handled this appropriately, and especially if Zimmerman didn't exceed his authority as neighborhood watch, none of this would be happening. When a teenage boy goes to the convenience store for some Skittles and iced tea, and ends up getting shot and killed; and nothing is done about it; some people tend to get quite outraged.
And it's truly appalling the way the right wing media, and their followers have been going all out in trying to demonize Trayvon Martin and rally around his killer.
As far as I know, Trayvon Martin does not have any history of violence or being a member of a gang.
The main reason why this killing has got so much attention isn't because an African-American was killed by a white, but because the killer was released by the police without any charges brought against him.
It was a blip in the news. It was in two, three outlets, and that was it; there has been no follow up, no protests, no celebrities or politicians speaking out. It is just a nothing story, despite the fact that it was a hate crime.
You don't seem to understand, the main reason people began to protest is not because Zimmerman killed Martin, but because no charges were brought against him. There wasn't much media coverage of the Trayvon Martin killing at first either. It was only after many people started to protest law enforcement's response.
Well established by who? Al Sharpton? The fact is we just don't know what happened and I've said that. You, on the other hand, have been manipulated to accuse, try, convict, and essentially sentence Zimmerman by the media because it serves other purposes for them. You should be offended by the way they act like scavengers around his dead body trying to turn it to political hay. There are approximately 100 young Black men killed each week in this country, the overwhelming majority by other young black men, but none of the people I mentioned care about that. They only want to involve themselves with situations that benefit them. Sharpton, Jackson, Obama, nothing but hucksters.
Ha, I've worked in the inner-city with hundreds of young Black guys over the years and have remained friends with several of them after the fact. The bottom line is that they wear the hoodies and dress the way they do to project a certain image, that of a tough guy or gangbanger.
See, you're just repeating Sharpton's talking points. The story that appears more likely to be true is that a neighborhood watchman saw a suspicious man in community with a recent history of housebreaks, started following him, reported him to the authorities, was sent back to his vehicle by the authorities before he was confronted and assaulted by Martin. He defended himself by shooting him during a struggle. The only eyewitnesses to the incident support this version of the story.
One of the biggest problems with this whole case is Sharpton's involvement....Remember Tawana Brawley? The Duke lacrosse rape case? People should tell him to shut up and go home and let the justice system run its course.
The reason he wasn't charged was because under Floridas stand and defend law Zimmerman was deemed to be within his rights. He was only charged to quiet the shitstorm propogated by NBC who purposely skewed the story, Jackson and Sharpton who are looking for attention, Obama who used it to divide the races for his own relection campaign and others with their own self serving race baiting motives.
Every negative story about Zimmerman and his conduct I initially heard has been modified or retracted. I have heard everything about Treven from him being an angel to a thief and thug. I don't know the real truth about Treven, his motives for being there, or what actually happened between the two of them, and I doubt that you do either. Id like to see this just play out in the court system. None of the people complaining about the rush to judgment in the OJ case are crying about it here, why is that?
I'll make one additional comment. The early purpose of this thread was NOT to discuss the merits of Trayvon / Zimmerman, but instead to discuss the mainstream media coverage it has received.
To date there have been more than a few attempts by mainstream media to 'manufacture' evidence ... or at least to selectively edit / misquote in a manner that allows for a uni-directional misinterpretation. As these attempts to 'manufacture' evidence have been discredited, media outlets have instead shifted to covering very 'polarized' comments ... no, I'll come right out and say it ... racially charged comments, from a host of prominent black organizations / leaders / celebrities calling for everything from prosecution of Zimmerman to vigilante 'justice' upon Zimmerman. At the same time, mainstream media has done minimal reporting of eyewitness statements, police statements, etc. which might be of opposite 'polarity'.
As pointed out above, like the Duke lacrosse rape case, it appears increasingly probable that mainstream media is again attempting to 'manufacture' a white on black racially motivated crime scenario that never actually existed. As also pointed out above, that 'manufactured' scenario is arguably being used by prominent black organizations / leaders / celebrities to gain media exposure for the furtherance of agendas that actually have very little to do with Trayvon/Zimmerman per se.
As to the Zimmerman indibtment news coverage, mainstream media did finally present a tidbit or two of counterbalance ...
(snip)Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball where fill-in host Michel Smerconish asked him his opinions of the arrest warrant issued and carried out for alleged Trayvon Martin murderer, George Zimmerman. Dershowitz called the affidavit justifying Zimmerman’s arrest “not only thin, it’s irresponsible.” He went on to criticize the decision to charge Zimmerman for second degree murder by special prosecutor Angela Corey as being politically motivated.
You’ve seen the affidavit of probable cause. What do you make of it,” Smerconish asked. “It won’t suffice,” Dershowitz replied without hesitation.
“Most affidavits of probable cause are very thin. This is so thin that it won’t make it past a judge on a second degree murder charge,” Dershowitz said. “There’s simply nothing in there that would justify second degree murder.”
Dershowitz said that the elements that would constitute that crime are non-existent in the affidavit. “It’s not only thin, it’s irresponsible,” said Dershowitz.
Dershowitz went on to strongly criticize Corey’s decision to move forward with the case against Zimmerman. “I think what you have here is an elected public official who made a campaign speech last night for reelection when she gave her presentation and overcharged. This case will not – if the evidence is no stronger than what appears in the probable cause affidavit – this case will result in an acquittal.”
Smerconish identified the total lack of any mention of the supposed fight that occurred between Martin and Zimmerman prior to Martin being shot. He said he was disappointed that he did not see any mention of that conflict that led to Martin’s murder.
“But it’s worse than that,” said Dershowitz. “It’s irresponsible and unethical in not including material that favors the defendant.”
“This affidavit does not even make it to probable cause,” Dershowitz concluded. “everything in the affidavit is completely consistent with a defense of self-defense. Everything.” (snip)
Viewed another way, Alan Dershowitz was making a direct comparison of the actions taken by prosecutor Angela Corey to actions taken by Duke lacross rape case prosecutor Mike Nifong.
Where the majority of Americans are concerned, I would argue that an old proverb is applicable. 'Fool me once - shame on you'. 'Fool me twice - shame on me'. The huge spike in recent firearms sales would tend to support this conclusion as well.
I understand there's emotion on both sides.
But the facts are: Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old who was visiting his dad; he was watching the NBA all star game and during halftime he went to the 7-11 to buy ice-t and skittles. On his way back home from the store he had an altercation with a 26 year old man with a gun, and he was killed.
All this talk about teenage "thugs" and "race-baiters" is irrelevant. Justice for Trayvon Martin had not been served: Zimmerman wasn't arrested until the Black leaders started bringing attention to the case.
Having said that; the NRA "stand your ground" law in Florida will probably ensure that Zimmerman will not serve much time (if any).
^^^ that's one version of the 'facts', served up by particular media outlets. There are many additional versions of the 'facts', some of which have never been mentioned by particular media outlets. Additionally, there have been 'manufactured facts' promoted by particular media outlets that have subsequently been exposed as being 'manufactured'.
No, the fact is that nobody outside of local LE has been exposed to all of the actual facts ... actual facts which apparently led to an initial determination by local LE that there was insufficient basis for bringing charges. This is the reason that early thread discussions did not attempt to discuss the actual merits of Trayvon/Zimmerman, and instead limited itself to discussing the media coverage ( or lack thereof ). Indeed, as a result of the high profile 'agitation' provided by black organizations / leaders / celebrities, there will now be official court hearings of those facts. It must be assumed that media outlets will thus be forced to report all of the facts which are disclosed in that courtroom.
Zimmerman wasn't standing his ground. He was following Trayvon Martin. He was charged because most people, who aren't racists, have a problem when African-American teenage boy goes to the convenience store for some Skittles and iced tea, and ends up getting shot, and the shooter is let free with no charges being brought against him.
No it hasn't. It definitely hasn't been modified that Zimmerman got out of his vehicle and followed Trayvon Martin before shooting him. If you'd like to see this "just play out in the court system", why are you complaining about people protesting because the D.A. originally made the decision to not have the court system handle it?
No, I have not heard anyone dispute that Trayvon Martin was visiting his dad, and was walking back from the convenience store when he was shot.
As always you're making stuff up. It wasn't determined by local LE that there was insufficient basis for bringing charges. At least one of the arresting officers thought charges should be brought against Zimmerman.
Is there another version of the facts? No. The facts ARE the Trayvon was walking home from the store unarmed; he was then followed by Zimmerman, who got out of his car and approached Trayvon. We don't know what happened between then and the gunshot, but we do know the Zimmerman initiated all contact and that Trayvon was just walking to his dad's house.
We do know that one witness, a woman, said that she heard Trayvon screaming for his life; another fact is that the police persuaded a 13 year old boy into saying that he saw Trayvon on top, beating up Zimmerman.
We also know that on the 911 calls, you can hear someone begging for their life and crying for help right before you hear the bullet that ended Trayvon's life. Were the cries Zimmerman's or Trayvon's? Whichever one of them was begging for their life was obviously in a position of needing protection. Zimmerman said it was him crying for help, thus that's why he's claiming self-defense. However, two forensic voice experts analyzed Zimmerman's voice and concluded that it is most definitely NOT Zimmerman crying for help. That means Trayvon was crying for help, which ruins Zimmerman's self-defense claim completely. Those are facts.
He may have been there to visit his dad and he may have been walking back from the convenience store but that doesn't mean he didn't confront and assault Zimmerman after Zimmerman called off following him and returned to his vehicle. The bottom line is none of us know the facts, but then again nor do any of the race baiters
It was determined by the local prosecuting attorney (who overrules the cops) decided there wasn't sufficient evidence to warrant prosecution.
This "race-baiter" term bothers me.I'm White/Latino (like Zimmerman) and I haven't felt like I've been the victim of verbal attacks by Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson.
I heard about this story early on and I just felt really bad for Trayvon's mom when she talked about what happened.
Then I watched Trayvon's dad "conducting his own investigation" to gather evidence so the cops would arrest his son's killer, and I just felt sorry for the man. The dude is a truck driver and there he was trying to be a crime investigator.
I thought ; what would I do in that situation?.
Later on, the case turned into a celebrity cause and a political fight , but whatever.
I'd like to think I would use any means necessary too to get the killer of my teenage son arrested (If I had a son).
If the dead boy wasn't a minority and the shooter portrayed as white would you be just as passionate about this? How do you know that he was there only for skittles and iced tea, could you read his mind or were you there? You do know that he jumped a fence into a gated comunity, ......right? Seems weird to jump 2 fences just to save a few steps to buy skittles and iced tea, doesn't it? Black get killed by blacks every day, why aren't you so outraged about them?
He got out of his car and followed him because he was a overzealous neighborhood watch guy. If you were not aware a NBC producer was fired for editing the transcripts to better fit the racist execution story they were portraying this as.
The people who know the most real facts origionally decided not to prosecute. No matter how much of the facts you know, don't know, or choose to ignore, you don't know what was in either of their minds or all of what really happened and why.
Where has anyone found fault with any action on the parents' parts, other than perhaps trademarking his name? Sharpton and Jackson are two of the most despicable public figures in the country, interested only in lining their pockets and elevating their profiles at the expense of any sense of potential racial harmony.
"Man, I could kill for some Skittles right now." - George Zimmerman
It's not still "too soon," right?